So I read this article (But why ARE women from DC?) where the author theorizes that one reason DC comics may appeal more to some women is that their titles/characters are "slashier," and that since so many young women read manga before they read other comic genres, that aspect has something to do with the appeal. It's a well-written article and makes some interesting points, which I'm doing a poor job of describing here, so you might as well just read it. :).
I have no idea whether the notion of DC comics being closer to manga (in terms of character relationships) is accurate, since the only manga I've seen has been bits on scans_daily. And certainly manga wasn't my own "gateway comic" because (ahem) it wasn't around in the US way back then.
So I suppose it's possible that I'm more of a Marvel person because I'm not into the slash. (Although I'm thinking that there would be plenty to work with in that mode in the Marvel U as well--Power Man/Iron Fist? Early Hawkeye/Quicksilver?)
I do know that there are a large number of online folks who do enjoy that aspect of the comics; I don't know offhand whether they're all female because you can't always tell from a quick reading of a linked blog post. It doesn't appeal to me--it's just not the way my mind turns--but it's certainly as valid as many of the other non-standard takes on the comic world we see. We all take our own meaning from what we read, after all.
What I'm really finding interesting in reading this discussion, though, is how different folks' views of the companies are. People saying that they don't care for Marvel because their books aren't fun, or because the characters have less depth or substance--I find that fascinating, when my own perception was quite the opposite for many years. (I will cede that if I had started reading comics in the early 90s, I might not have had that opinion. But I didn't. I started in the 60s and 70s. I think if I started today, I'd feel the same.) I still find Marvel to be immensely fun, and the characters as deep as any--just, now I have a greater appreciation for DC as well.
3 comments:
doesn't marvel produce the marvel universe in manga or something? i thought i saw that.
Well as a "Marvel girl" and a slasher, both of many years standing, I'd argue with leftarrow's thesis that DC is slashier. DC is slashy, sure, but Marvel can more than hold its own with the X-characters alone. Add in the rest of the 'verse and, well... the fact that the whole Civil War disaster has been easiest for me to deal with when read as the fallout from the horribly messy divorce of my own pairing of choice should say where I stand on that. Oh, Tony and Steve, why didn't you just get couples' therapy? Sob! ;)
But personally, my own reasons for preferring Marvel sound much like yours in your post yesterday, even though I came to comics a bit after you (late 70's- early 80's). Though I've always made an exception for Wonder Woman (even though she's often terribly written, I can't resist her), the DC-verse always felt more... pristine to me. A bit retro and conservative, in a "good old days" sense, rather than a political sense. Marvel felt like it had more raw edges for me to catch on to. More women, too, at least in the mutant books (however problematic they could be), which was important in a family of four comic-reading girls.
Another factor that I can't discount, though, was that I had access to Marvel first. My father was a Dr. Strange fan from the character's start, and so as soon as my sisters and I outgrew Sugar and Spike and Richie Rich, we were showed the racks of Spider-man and the X-Men. We had family tradition to uphold, heh.
Now, of course, I find both companies equally frustrating. I's far too late for DC to win me away from Marvel, though. And all without the help of manga.
Hey there, I thought I could offer up a different perspective - mine!
I used to Make Mine Marvel, pretty much because it was my gateway company (and more relatable/sympathetic/flawed characters), but then Brand New Day showed me that they valued the franchise over the character, so that was a big blow to me. I still picked up Spider-Man for the first 6 issues of BND, but I just recently dropped it. It stung too much to read, after all!
But I guess I'm moving over to DC (NOT because of slash! I do NOT swing that way!), because they're more fun. Its superheroes are superheroes who have FUN being superheroes. And THAT's always fun to read, although I think Marvel's non-skrull-centric titles are making a shift back to basics.
But DC characters are still relatable - not as MANY as Marvel, but enough to make me happy.
Another observation that I made is that Marvel is more single-character/solo stories than group/team stories, so that might have an influence. I hope I'm not just repeating the last thread.
"doesn't marvel produce the marvel universe in manga. . ."
Well, they used to. It was called the "Marvel Mangaverse" and yes, the Black Cat is drawn exactly as you'd think so.
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